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Whether your remodeling project is a small one like adding new cabinets, or a large one, a few simple principles will help you hire the best contractor for your needs. A highly rated Austin, Texas cabinet maker explains how.

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Angie's Answers

Not really. If the contractor is very careful and you are really lucky he might be able to pull them out and then reinstall them after the new cabinets are installed. A lot of this will have to do with how well the counters were installed in the first place. Also, the existing countertops may not line up with the new cabinets exactly in some areas as well as they do now. The better option is to have the cabinets refaced, leaving the boxes and tops in place. Unlless you have deteriorating particle board cabinets you should be able to get a carpenter to do this. If you decide to remove the countertops and install new cabinets factor in new tops and be pleasantly surprised if they can be reinstalled afterall. Realize you probably won't find a contractor willing to gurantee not damaging the tops. If you do, dig in and research him well. He likely doesn't have enough experience.

IF dirty enough to make for a musty odor, then paint won't stick to them properly anyway. Paint is not your solution - you probably need a Deep Cleaning.
Try to pin down what types of smell it is - if damp, mildewy; rotten food; or musty fabric - will help guide you to the source maybe.
Another thing to do is keep all doors closed for a full day when outside temp is such that furnace and A/C can be turned off - then walk around the house, sniffing - preferably with 2 people - and see if one room is the major contributor. I have played this game, and found all the following as sources of musty smells:
1) linen in a closet without ventilation going slightly mildewy
2) water leak in walls or floors enough to cause mold but not drywall staining or visible water
3) carpets needing cleaning
4) water leak in bath or kitchen leaking under floor, causing mold there which is not pronounced in smell because under the flooring
5) attic mildew/mold from leaks or moisture condensation on insulation/wood
6) moldy plants outside - left in garden/flower bed in fall, so rotted in winter/spring
7) clothes in closets touching outside wall, so in very cold weather acted as insulator and let freezing front come to inside of wall, causing frost and moisture to buildup there from the inside moisture, eventually causing mildew/mold (same process as condensation/ice on inside of windows with curtains over them)
8) failure to clean behind kitchen appliances and under sink, or under washer/dryer/dishwasher at least when repaired or changed out
9) heavy lint accumulation in bathroom fan going mildewy
10) grease trap in kitchen exhaust fan never cleaned
11) washing machine going moldy - run a cycle of towels or such with bleach and Borax
12) the number one cause I have found - clothes stacked in closets or hope chests or such for decades get very musty even if clean and ventilated

As long as the counter is big enough Corian is one of the easier ones to work with. Since it does not have the ground or crushed stone that some of the other material have you can work with normal woodworking tools. A saw with a fine tooth carbide blade and a professional grade router with the proper shaped carbde bit can be used if the edge needs finishing. A belt sander helps on cuts also. The only problem you might have is if you need the joint kits for seaming as I dont think you can buy them.

When Corian first came out I could buy the slabs and fabricate my own tops and then Dupont went to a certified distributor system and would no longer sell to those of us that had been working with it for years. I will admit that they did have reasons for this as not all that were working with the product were doing it right.